What to Use to Catch Bass

Huge 74lb. Striper Pulled From Long Island Sound

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 24 May 2012 13:43:28 -0400

Captain Blaine Anderson, owner and operator of Anderson Guide Services pulled this monster 74lb. striper from the Long Island Sound on Wednesday, May 23. Check out his amazing photos plus a video of the fight here!

For more information on Anderson's guide services, which include one or two person light tackel charters, visit his website, call 860-667-4523 or visit his Facebook page.

The CatchFeed: 50 Top Photos from Catchbook, Field & Stream's New Social Fishing App

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:43:40 -0400

These 50 photos are our editors' picks for the best shots posted so far by users of our new Catchbook app!

About Catchbook Fishing Reports
Catchbook is a free social fishing app we built for the iPhone to help you share photos of your fish while recording the spots where you caught them. Check out more great fish photos from around the country (and start posting your own catches) by downloading the app from iTunes! Visit fieldandstream.com/catchbook for details on how the app works, and why it'll help you catch more fish.

Catchbook Photo Contest
We're giving away a Columbia PFG Blood and Guts™ Ball Cap, for the best photo posted each week (as chosen by our editors) from now until then end of July. At the end of each month we'll pick our favorite overall shot and run it in the magazine! Each monthly winner will also receive a Columbia Airgill Chill™ Long Sleeve (men) or Ultimate Chill™ Long Sleeve (women). Click here to learn how you can enter this contest. Click here for the official rules.

The Best F&S Online Record Fish Stories and Photos

Online Editors — Tue, 08 May 2012 11:57:23 -0400

Catchbook Contest: Photo of the Week!

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:41:44 -0400

Congratulations to Austin Bockwinkel, whose spring Iowa largemouth bass takes top prize in our weekly Catchbook Photo Contest! Austin gets a PFG Blood and Guts™ Ball Cap from Columbia, and also qualifies to win our monthly prize, a Columbia Airgill Chill™ Long Sleeve fishing shirt and his mug in the pages of our magazine. Click here to learn how you can enter this contest by. Click here for the official rules.

Catchbook is a new fishing app for the iPhone that automatically turns photos of fish you've caught into detailed fishing journal entries that show up on your map, then shares those entries exclusively with trusted friends. Our goal is to help you and your buddies learn more about the spots you fish. You can download the app from iTunes here.

Holy Mackerel: 2nd-Grader Hooks 68 lb. King Fish

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 02 May 2012 10:10:38 -0400

Andrew Quinn, a spirited Michigan second-grader who wrestles in the 77-pound weight class at his school, is no stranger to grappling with heavyweight foes.

But even Andrew almost met his match when he hooked this 5-foot king mackerel during a deep sea fishing trip in the Gulf of Mexico in late March. At the end of a 30-minute fight, Andrew had just enough strength left to boat the giant king, which weighed 68 pounds, 3 ounces—a touch lighter than Andrew but 4 ounces heavier than the current Alabama state record.

The 50 Best Field & Stream Reader Photos from April 2012

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 02 May 2012 09:25:49 -0400

Each month, Field & Stream editors review the hundreds of photos submitted by readers to our Trophy Room. If your photo is chosen to be printed in the Game Faces section of the magazine, you’ll win a Rapala Fish ‘N Fillet knife!

Submit your photos here!

Here are the other best reader photo collections from this year:

January 2012

February 2012

March 2012

Freak Out a Skipjack for a Striped Bass Wall-Hanger

Sarah Smith — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 11:22:18 -0400

by Joe Cermele

Wall Size: Whether you’re after a landlocked freshwater striper or one cruising along a salty shoreline, the fish anglers covet is that first 40-pounder. Stripers are a slow-growing species, so a fish that size can be 20 years old or older. In that time it almost certainly has encountered plenty of hooks. If you fool a 40, you’ve duped one wise fish.

Special Case: You should score a replica if you can score a 25-plus-pounder on the fly in fresh- or saltwater. If you’re into surf casting, your first beach bass weighing 30 pounds or more should also be considered for the wall.

Trophy Towns:

✖ Cumming, Ga. With nearly 40,000 acres of water and ample bait, Lake Lanier is a prime hunting ground for heavy stripers.
✖ Rogers, Ark. In 1999, angler Holt Holyfield stuck a 57-pound state-record striper in Beaver Lake. With a strong shad population and plenty of deep, cool summering spots, Beaver still gives up 40-pounders every season.
✖ Seaside Park, N.J. The Jersey coast has experienced epic spring runs of giant stripers in the past few years, thanks to tighter restrictions on menhaden fishing, which is prime forage for trophies.

The Guide: Lance Sasser

Home Waters: Sasser has been a guide on Kentucky’s Lake Cumberland and Cumberland River for 21 years, and his rods have come to know the strain of many 40-plus-pound stripers. Given Lake Cumberland’s deep, cold water that keeps big bass thriving during the hottest summers, abundant shad and herring, and easy access to the Cumberland River for spawning, this is one of the best inland watersheds for trophy stripers in the U.S.

Trophy Hunting: “You can catch one in Lake Cumberland, but a 40-pound fish will be easier to find from mid May to mid June in the river,” Sasser says. “That time of year, the fish in the lake are moving upstream to spawn.” These egg-laden females seek out shallow areas less than 10 feet deep, and gravitate to the many logs and snarls along the Cumberland’s banks. Find a spot like this at the mouth of a feeder creek and make sure you’re there at first or last light.

Top Bait: “Nothing gets a predator to react like a struggling baitfish. Gizzard shad are docile on a hook. That’s why I prefer 14- to 18-inch skipjack herring. They go crazy.” Sasser uses a sabiki rig to collect bait, then runs a 7/0 Octopus hook through the herring’s top jaw and hangs it 10 feet behind a planer board on a 30-pound fluorocarbon leader with no weight. He’ll slow-troll through the shallows, running the bait close to structure.

Top Lure: “My favorite, bar none, is a 7-inch Cotton Cordell Red Fin,” Sasser says. “That bait mimics a gizzard shad or skipjack better than any others I’ve ever used.” He likes a Red Fin in chrome and black, and will pitch one in the shallows and around current-breaking structure. “When you retrieve slowly, the lure makes a perfect V wake across the surface that big fish seem to like.”

From the April 2012 issue of Field & Stream magazine.

Freak Out a Skipjack for a Striped Bass Wall-Hanger

Sarah Smith — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 11:22:18 -0400

by Joe Cermele

The Guide: Lance Sasser

From the April 2012 issue of Field & Stream magazine.

Whip Walleye, Trout and Bass With These 4 Tailor-Made Rods

Online Editors — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:42:12 -0400

Target: Walleyes
Lure: Jig
Rod: St. Croix Eyecon Snap Jig

The 18 offerings in St. Croix’s Eyecon series include everything from trolling rods to live-bait rods, and the Snap Jig model is dialed in for anglers chasing walleyes in rivers. A bit longer than other jigging rods, the Snap Jig provides more leverage when you need to work a heavier jig along the bottom in an area of swift current. $120

Target: Trout
Lure: Marabou jig
Rod: G. Loomis GL2 Trout Jig

Marabou jigs may not be staples for trout fishermen in all of the country, but G. Loomis thinks they should be, because they catch hog browns and ’bows. That’s why the company developed the GL2 Trout Jig with a soft midsection, an extra-fast tip, and a powerful butt. This rod will get a marabou jig dancing like no other in any kind of flow. $175

Target: Smallmouths
Lure: Tube, jig
Rod: Fenwick Elite Tech Smallmouth

With a high-modulus graphite blank that detects the subtlest pickup, and titanium guides that reduce weight, Fenwick’s new custom smallmouth rod can effectively fish everything from a light tube to a heavy football jig. Though the rod is sensitive, its low-end power will beat the biggest bass you can find. The hidden-handle reel seat makes the rod more comfortable to grip. $130